Christmas calories don't count.

Thanksgiving through New Year’s is the time of year a lot of people gain anywhere from 5-10 pounds before determining their New Year’s Resolution is to lose that 10 pounds they gained; plus some if they’re feeling motivated.

Let’s be honest here…

It’s worth it.

Every.

Single.

Pound.

Think about all the food we’re surrounded with for that 5 week period around the holidays. Does anyone REALLY want to turn down all the cakes, cookies, casseroles, gravy boats, mashed potatoes, and turkey shoved in their faces while having to deal with the entire family AND the kids being out of school? And let’s not forget the wine, that helps so many of us through the holidays too. Plus, it tastes SO good. It’s even better curled up on the couch with a blanket after the kids go to bed, enjoying the short time of silence before passing out from exhaustion. Hot chocolate has the same effect for me, too.

Even with all the chaos, it’s pure bliss.

It’s the time of year when you say “screw it” and indulge to your heart’s content. No counting calories, no worrying about what you ate, getting rolled out of your relative’s house in a wheelbarrow because you can’t walk from eating too much, and the incredibly comfortable stretchy pants. You know the kind. The pants that you don’t even have to worry about unbuttoning to use the bathroom. The ones that have room to give when you sit down on the couch to enjoy that glass of wine or cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream.

So enjoy it while it lasts before January hits and put on those stretchy-waist pants. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.